Lightweight Men's Double Sculls (LM2x) - Final

Two days ago France and Norway won their heats, earning them a day off from racing. Norway’s AreStrandli and Kristoffer Brun had recorded the fastest time and they sat in the middle lane. A false start by Ireland saw the boats stop and restart. The second start saw Ireland rating 50 strokes per minute, but it was Great Britain’s Richard Chambers and Will Fletcher that made it to the first 500m marker in the lead. But the World Champions, France was right there and so were the 2013 World Champions, Strandli and Brun.

Coming through the middle of the race there was practically nothing between the top four boats with Chambers and Fletcher still just in the lead. France has a new 2016 line-up of Jeremie Azou now partnered by Pierre Houin and they won at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne. Azou and Houin then did an acceleration and got into the lead. A beautiful display of sculling by France was keeping them in the lead.

This final sprint was now going on and the French were under pressure from Italy, Norway and Ireland. Houin and Azou held off the charge. Places two, three and four were separated by just over a second. Strandli and Brun took silver and Andrea Micheletti and Marcello Miani of Italy took bronze.

Results: FRA, NOR, ITA, IRL, GBR, AUT

Jeremie Azou (s), France, gold
“It was a good race, and we felt good. Since it is the last race before Rio, it was very important for us to have a good race to show the French boat is on form. We expect strong competition from the Norwegians as they are the most consistent boat, and on top of that, they are super nice guys.”

Are Strandli (s), Norway, silver
“We had a great start at the first attempt when the Irish made a false start. The second start was also great, but not as good as the first. We gave it all in the first thousand and we were happy to hold on to the finish line. We are very happy with this result.

Andrea Micheletti (b), Italy, bronze
“We didn’t have a very fast start, but we worked really well together in the first half. We were able to put in a good sprint in the middle to finish strong. We are still in the process of selections, so this is a great result for us.”

B-final

Germany’s Jason Osborne and Moritz Moos only just missed out on the A-final through yesterday’s repechage and they made the most of today by getting out to a good lead. They were sixth at last year’s World Rowing Championships which earned the boat a spot in the Rio Olympics. Brazil followed solidly in second. Germany went to 41 strokes per minute at the finish to extend their winning margin.

Results: GER, SUI, BRA, HKG, ROU